Spain Tops the Leaderboard for Brits

Britain’s love affair with Spain is as strong as ever according to market research by Mintel and Holiday Discount Centre’s own search data from 2014.

A turn of fortune

Travellers to Spain spent £5.5 billion in 2013 – a rise of 13%.

An average of £518 per trip was spent by package holidaymakers to the country.

The amount of expenditure in the country is predicted to increase a further 33% to £7.3 billion by 2018.

Types of holiday

Almost half (48%) of those asked have been on a beach holiday to Spain in the last five years.

A third of people have enjoyed Spain for a family holiday in the same time period.

One in four visitors has taken an all-inclusive trip – both of these are likely to be near a beach.

Most popular regions

Barcelona is the only city break destination in the top five, coming out joint top along with the Balearics with 29% of people visiting there.

The Costa del Sol, Canary Islands and Costa Blanca complete the top five, well ahead of other city break destinations such as Madrid and Valencia.

Why people visit Spain

85% of those asked say the hot climate is the reason they holiday in Spain.

The Spanish culture and the welcoming nature of the country also make it an attractive destination.

Over seven out of 10 people say they believe to be safer in Spain than in other countries such as Egypt and Turkey.

Spain also has a good reputation for offering good value for money with just 34% of people admitting they wouldn’t be able to afford a holiday to the country.

Who is visiting?

Over seven out of 10 visitors to Spain are over the age of 35.

The most popular age group is 45-54, which has 20% of the market share.

Research also shows that families with children are more likely to have visited Spain in the past five years.

Where else is popular?

Although it seems as though Spain will be the most popular holiday destination for many years to come, countries such as Portugal, Italy and Germany have surged in popularity with at least a 10 per cent increase in visitors. France still remains the second most common overseas destination for Brits to visit, however numbers have still decreased slightly in the last couple of years.

Steve Campion, Managing Director of HDC, said: “It’s unsurprising that Spain comes out on top with Brits when it comes to holidays. It has always been a popular choice with HDC customers and we don’t expect this to change much next year.

“Our data shows that Tenerife and Benidorm have been the top searches for customers this year so it will be interesting to see if that remains the same in 2015.”

Have you been to Spain recently? Do you consider it good value for money?